News and Reviews from the world of Theatre

Category: 3 Stars

Linda Anderson reviews Bad Roads at the Royal Court Part of the International Playwrights programme at the Royal Court, Bad Roads provides a series of savage snapshots of the war in Ukraine. Told from a female perspective, we see how women adapt to find love, avoid abuse and […]

Simon Ward reviews No Place Like Hope at The Old Red Lion, Islington Even by the standards of theatre-rooms-above-pubs, the Old Red Lion is a particularly intimate space. If you sit at the front you are almost part of the scenery, or intruding on someone’s privacy. Especially […]

Simon Ward reviews Tom Stoppard’s If You’re Glad, I’ll Be Frank at The Hen and Chickens First things first. The setup of this play will be virtually incomprehensible to anyone under the age of about forty – it takes us back to the days when there was […]

Anna Hadley reviews Trashed at the Underbelly, Edinburgh Trashed is a dark, tragic show that haunts the Fringe and stays with its audiences. Written by Sascha Moore and performed by David William Bryan, the play is based on one man’s experience of the loss of a child, the […]

Toby Moran Mylett reviews Pub Talks at The Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Engaging and visually fascinating throughout, Pub Talk’s ‘A Pint Sized Conversation’ deals with the subject of depression, in the company’s own words aiming to be a piece ‘offering support, and not getting it right all of the […]

Abigail Bryant reviews Tamar Broadbent: Get Ugly Although musical comedy might not be everybody’s cup of tea, Tamar Broadbent’s Get Ugly is fantastically awkward and charming enough to make even the hardest of hearts smile, even if just momentarily. A mix of stand up and singing, this show delivers […]

Charlotte Pegram reviews Lands at Summerhall, Edinburgh Lands is sparse, both in terms of language and set. Featuring only a trampoline and a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, it tackles issues of dependency and isolation in an absurdist form. You have to get used to the sounds of springs crunching up […]

Harry Henderson reviews A Strange New Space at Summerhall, Edinburgh This simple children’s show touches on complex issues of home, separation and the refugee crisis. Using a cardboard box and the few items inside a rucksack, Tessa Bide tells the story of Amira – a young girl who […]

Oli Hague reviews Richard Herring at the Pleasance, Edinburgh Although arguably not quite as cerebral as many of his previous 12 one-man fringe shows, Herring demonstrates why he has had such consistent success over the last 30 years at the festival with an affable performance on the virtues […]

Charlotte Pegram reviews Sam Simmons at Assembly, Edinburgh Winner of the 2015 Edinburgh Fosters Comedy Award, Sam Simmons has had his talents praised to the extent that last year’s critics told him he could read out the phone book and he would still be funny. Simmons took them […]